In an unprecedented moment in Oscars history, the sure winner for best picture had their victory stolen from them at the last minute — thanks to a small communication mistake. Inevitably, because of that moment’s similarity to the close 2016 election between Hillary Clinton and President Trump, the gaffe had politicians, journalists and actors alike sharing a flurry of politically themed jokes on Twitter.
Several people took the last-minute upset by “Moonlight,” which ended up being the true winner after Warren Beaty and Faye Dunaway accidentally announced “La La Land” as the victor, and made comparisons to the Electoral College handing Trump victory when many in the polling and media business saw the odds tilting heavily in Clinton’s favor before Election Day.
Some joked that “La La Land” should have campaigned more in swing states.
La La Land should have campaigned more in Wisconsin.
— Rahul Thathoo ? (@thathoo) February 27, 2017
And many others wished that the 2016 election had taken a similar turn, with Clinton being announced the true winner after an announcement gaffe.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., tweeted that he has a “dream” most nights that Trump’s victory on Nov. 8 would have been overturned to crown Clinton the victor.
Most nights, I have a dream in which what just happened at the #Oscars actually happened on election night.
— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) February 27, 2017
OMG! A huge fuck-up in who won! HILLARY CLINTON IS PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES!
— Michael Moore (@MMFlint) February 27, 2017
OMFG MOONLIGHT ACTUALLY WON AND HILLARY CLINTON IS PRESIDENT! #Oscars
— Travon Free (@Travon) February 27, 2017
Holy shit. Now let’s go back and do the same thing with THE FUCKING ELECTION.
— Alex Zalben (@azalben) February 27, 2017
Why couldn’t this have happened with the election?
— Daley Haggar (@d_haggar) February 27, 2017
Some pointed fingers at the Russians for the gaffe, whom the U.S. intelligence community blames for attempting to tilt the election in Trump’s favor through hacks and subsequent public email dumps through websites like WikiLeaks.
pesky russian hackers
— Gideon Resnick (@GideonResnick) February 27, 2017
In London, Assange is stroking his hairless cat and chuckling, “Take THAT Gosling.”
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) February 27, 2017
Pollster Frank Luntz made a quip about Green Party candidate Jill Stein, who after the election led a campaign for recounts in three states.
How much money will @DrJillStein raise to demand an Oscar recount? #Oscars https://t.co/mkHeI9g6sF
— Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) February 27, 2017
Others turned to history for an Oscars-politics connection.
Independent Journal Review’s Benny Johnson called the incident the “Hollywood version of Fake News,” and shared a meme appearing on Twitter showing the iconic 1948 picture of President Truman holding the front page of the Chicago Daily Tribune that read “Dewey Defeats Truman,” only now it read “La La Land wins!”
time is a flat circle pic.twitter.com/G9KKRkF7kg
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) February 27, 2017
It didn’t take long for some people to get sick of all the political metaphors.
The deadline for ending all your jokes comparing the #Oscars to the election is …. now.
— Seung Min Kim (@seungminkim) February 27, 2017
And then there was CNN’s Anderson Cooper, who may have tuned in a little late to the party.
did i miss anything at the end?!
— Anderson Cooper (@andersoncooper) February 27, 2017
